By Gayle Converse

As Alexandria celebrates its 275th birthday, one of the city’s primary attractions, The Torpedo Factory, is marking its 50th year of existence – and it’s mostly due to the tireless efforts of two Alexandria women.

In the early 1970s, when American women were still barely recognized as equals to their male counterparts, professional artist and Alexandria resident Marian Van Landingham took on the task of finding a new home for The Art League, whose Cameron Street lease was expiring. At the time, Van Landingham, a Georgia native, served as president of The Art League and was a member of Alexandria’s Bi-centennial Commission.

At the suggestion of Commission Chair James W. Coldsmith, Van Landingham decided to initiate a grassroots campaign to convert the city-owned former United States Naval Torpedo Station – which was in use from 1919 to 1946 – into an art center.

The vast Art Deco building complex at 105 North Union St. had gone from a critical Naval weapons station – which had employed many of Alexandria’s women during World War II – to the Federal Records Center from 1950 to 1968 – housing documents of the Nuremberg Trials, dinosaur bones and German war films – to an abandoned local eyesore. The stark interior had become infested with pigeon and rat droppings.

Three blocks of buildings were purchased in 1969 by the city, which included the former Naval Torpedo Station, the Federal Records Center and the building now known as the Art Center, for $1.6 million.

Van Landingham enlisted the help of Alexandria artist Margaret “Marge” Alderson, and the two women worked over the course of a year to lobby the city for the proposed conversion of the site. During the sometimes-uphill battle, the two women painters proved they were not to be brushed aside.

On May 7, 1974, City Council approved a three-year pilot program and $140,000 for the first building renovation. Within a short period of time, the city hired Van Landingham as the director of the new art center.

Forty dump truck loads of debris later, the old munitions plant was given new life in 1974, when it reopened its doors as the Torpedo Factory Art Center. Van Landingham and Alderson – whose artistic medium was paint – had become painters of a different ilk. They hosted volunteer floor-to-ceiling “painting parties” and transformed many of the building’s interior 20-foot walls themselves, replacing “government green” with what Van Landingham described as antique white.

Van Landingham had designed the Art Center as a place where artists representing a wide variety of mediums could create in a designated professional studio space – and where residents and tourists were welcome. The complex soon became a national destination and one of the city’s primary visitor draws.

In 1975, as a political career took Van Landingham to Richmond, Alderson was installed as the new director of the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

In their new leadership roles, both women sustained long tenures. Van Landingham was a member of the Virginia General Assembly for 24 years, from 1982 to 2006. Alderson remained in her directorship of the Torpedo Factory for more than 10 years; she championed a major renovation of the Art Center from 1982 to 1983. Both women continued pursuing their individual art as well as mentoring and teaching aspiring artists. Alderson retired from her leadership role at the Torpedo Factory in 1986 and died in 2021.

During the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s 50th Anniversary Gala, held on Sept. 14, Van Landingham was honored as founder of the Art Center. Alexandria Vice Mayor Amy Jackson described Van Landingham’s impact.

“Marian Van Landingham is the quintessential Alexandrian. As a woman in 1974, she decided to break the rules,” Jackson said. “She had the creativity and drive to get [the Torpedo Factory Art Center] done. Marian didn’t stop there: when she went to Richmond to serve in the Virginia General Assembly, she represented our arts district.”

And it all began with the vision, savvy and dedication – the brush strokes of genius – of two Alexandria women.

The writer is a founder of Alexandria Celebrates Women, a nonprofit commemorating the centennial of women’s suffrage and highlighting influential women throughout the city’s history.